U.S. patent application number 11/917585 was filed with the patent office on 2008-09-11 for reliant thermal barrier coating system and related methods and apparatus of making the same.
This patent application is currently assigned to UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA PATENT FOUNDATION. Invention is credited to Derek D. Hass, Haydn N.G. Wadley.
Application Number | 20080220177 11/917585 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 37605131 |
Filed Date | 2008-09-11 |
United States Patent
Application |
20080220177 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Hass; Derek D. ; et
al. |
September 11, 2008 |
Reliant Thermal Barrier Coating System and Related Methods and
Apparatus of Making the Same
Abstract
A method and apparatus for forming a thermal barrier coating
system (90) in communication with at least a portion of at least
one substrate (92). The method includes: depositing a first bond
coat (94) on at least a portion of at least one substrate (92);
depositing a first thermal barrier coat (96) disposed on the bond
coat (94); whereby the deposition occurs in one or more chambers to
form the thermal barrier coating system (90); and wherein the
deposition of the first bond coat (94) (or subsequent bond coats)
and the deposition of the first thermal barrier coat (96) (or
subsequent thermal barrier coats) is performed without
out-of-chamber handling of the thermal barrier coating system
(90).
Inventors: |
Hass; Derek D.;
(Charlottesville, VA) ; Wadley; Haydn N.G.;
(Keswick, VA) |
Correspondence
Address: |
UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA PATENT FOUNDATION
250 WEST MAIN STREET, SUITE 300
CHARLOTTESVILLE
VA
22902
US
|
Assignee: |
UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA PATENT
FOUNDATION
Charlottesville
VA
DIRECTED VAPOR TECHNOLOGIES INTERNATIONAL
Charlottesville
VA
|
Family ID: |
37605131 |
Appl. No.: |
11/917585 |
Filed: |
June 30, 2006 |
PCT Filed: |
June 30, 2006 |
PCT NO: |
PCT/US2006/025978 |
371 Date: |
December 14, 2007 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
|
60695348 |
Jun 30, 2005 |
|
|
|
Current U.S.
Class: |
427/446 ;
118/723E; 118/723I; 118/723R; 204/192.1; 427/248.1; 427/255.28;
427/402; 427/569; 427/585; 427/595; 427/596; 427/598 |
Current CPC
Class: |
C23C 14/30 20130101;
Y02T 50/60 20130101; C23C 14/325 20130101; C23C 14/0021 20130101;
C23C 14/024 20130101; C23C 14/228 20130101; C23C 14/08
20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
427/446 ;
427/596; 427/595; 427/569; 427/598; 427/255.28; 427/248.1;
204/192.1; 427/585; 427/402; 118/723.R; 118/723.I; 118/723.E |
International
Class: |
B05D 1/08 20060101
B05D001/08; C23C 14/30 20060101 C23C014/30; H05H 1/24 20060101
H05H001/24; C23C 14/34 20060101 C23C014/34; B05D 1/36 20060101
B05D001/36; C23C 16/44 20060101 C23C016/44; B29C 35/08 20060101
B29C035/08 |
Claims
1. A method for forming a thermal barrier coating system in
communication with at least a portion of at least one substrate,
said method comprising: depositing a bond coat on at least a
portion of at least one said substrate; depositing a thermal
barrier coat disposed on said bond coat; and wherein said bond coat
and said thermal barrier coat are deposited using at least one of
the following deposition techniques comprising: directed vapor
deposition (DVD), evaporation (thermal, RF, laser, or electron
beam), reactive evaporation, sputtering (DC, RF, microwave and/or
magnetron), reactive sputtering, electron beam physical vapor
deposition (EF-PVD), ion plasma deposition (IPD), low pressure
plasma spray (LPPS), high velocity oxy-fuel (HVOF), vapor
deposition, cluster deposition, cathodic arc deposition, or jet
vapor deposition, or any combination thereof.
2. A method for forming a thermal barrier coating system in
communication with at least a portion of at least one substrate,
the method comprising: depositing a bond coat on at least a portion
of at least one said substrate; depositing a thermal barrier coat
disposed on said bond coat; and wherein said bond coat and said
thermal barrier coat are deposited using directed vapor deposition
(DVD).
3. The method of claim 2, wherein said method further comprises:
presenting said at least one substrate to a chamber, wherein said
chamber has a down stream pressure, P.sub.c, with an operating
range from about 0.0001 Pa to about 150 Pa; presenting at least one
evaporant source to said chamber for said bond coat; presenting at
least one evaporant source to said chamber for said thermal barrier
coat; presenting at least one carrier gas stream to said chamber,
wherein said at least one carrier gas stream is generated from at
least one nozzle; impinging at least one said evaporant bond coat
source with at least one energetic beam in said chamber to generate
an evaporated bond coat vapor flux in a main direction respective
for any of said evaporant sources impinged by said energetic beam;
impinging at least one evaporant thermal barrier coat source with
at least one energetic beam in said chamber to generate an
evaporated thermal barrier coat vapor flux in a main direction
respective for any of said evaporant sources impinged by said
energetic beam; said at least one carrier gas stream has a pressure
ratio in the operating range from about 1.01 to about 10,000,000;
said substrate having a temperature approximately equal to or
greater than a melting point of said substrate; said at least one
evaporant bond coat source and said at least one evaporant thermal
barrier coat source generate said evaporated vapor flux and an
evaporation rate in the range of about 0.00001 g/min to about
100,000 g/min; and deflecting at least one of said generated
evaporated bond coat vapor flux and said generated evaporated
thermal barrier coat vapor flux by at least one of said carrier gas
stream, wherein said carrier gas stream is essentially parallel to
the main direction and substantially surrounds said evaporated bond
coat flux and said generated evaporated thermal barrier coat vapor
flux, wherein said evaporated vapor bond coat flux at least
partially coast said substrate to provide a bond coat and said
generated evaporated thermal barrier coat vapor flux at least
partially coats said bond coat to provide a thermal barrier
coat.
4. The method of claim 3, wherein said deposition of said first
bond coat and said deposition of said first thermal barrier coat is
performed without removing said thermal barrier coating system from
said chamber.
5. The method of claim 3, further comprising: said chamber further
includes a substrate bias system capable of applying a DC or
alternating potential to at least one of said substrates; impinging
said at least one of said generated vapor bond coat flux, said at
least one of said generated vapor thermal barrier coat flux and at
least one of said carrier gas stream with a working gas generated
by at least one hollow cathode arc plasma activation source to
ionize said at least one of said generated vapor bond coat flux,
said at least one of said generated vapor thermal barrier coat flux
and at least one of said carrier gas stream; and attracting said
ionized generated vapor bond coat flux, said at least one of said
generated vapor thermal barrier coat flux and said carrier gas
stream to a substrate surface by allowing a self-bias of said
ionized gas and vapor stream or said potential to pull the ionized
stream to said substrate.
6. The method of claim 5, said generated electrons from said hollow
cathode source is regulated for direction through variations in the
quantity of working gas passing through said hollow cathode
source.
7. The process of claim 5, wherein the distance between said
cathode source and said generated evaporated vapor flux is
regulated for ionization of the entire generated evaporated vapor
flux.
8. The method of claim 3, wherein said energetic beam comprises at
least one of electron beam source, laser source, heat source, ion
bombardment source, highly focused incoherent light source,
microwave, radio frequency, EMF, or any energetic beam that break
chemical bonds, or any combination thereof.
9. The method of claim 3, further comprising at least one nozzle,
wherein said at least one said nozzle comprises: at least one
nozzle gap wherein said at least one said carrier gas flows there
from; and at least one evaporant retainer for retaining at least
one said evaporant source, said evaporant retainer being at least
substantially surrounded by at least one said nozzle gap.
10. The method claim 9, wherein said evaporant retainer is a
crucible.
11. The method claim 9, wherein at least one said nozzle gap is
defined by a shape selected from the group consisting of:
ring-shaped, elliptical-shaped, elongated elliptical-shaped,
cross-hatch-shaped, segmented ring-shaped, segmented
elliptical-shaped, and segmented elongated elliptical-shaped.
12. The method of claim 3, further comprising: providing a
plurality of said nozzles, wherein said nozzle gaps being
non-angular channels; and providing a plurality of said electron
beams, wherein individual said electron beams impinges on
individual said sources to generate evaporated vapor flux to at
least partially coat a plurality of said substrates, each of said
substrates being coated respectively from a singular said evaporant
source.
13. The method of claim 3, further comprising: providing a
plurality of said nozzles, wherein said nozzle gaps being
non-angular channels; and providing a plurality of said electron
beams, wherein individual said electron beams impinges on
individual said sources to generate a large evaporated vapor flux
to at least partially coat a singular said substrate, said
substrate being coated from said plurality of said evaporant
sources.
14. The method of claim 3, further comprising: providing a
plurality of said nozzles, wherein said nozzle gaps being angular
channels; and providing a singular said electron beam, wherein said
electron beam impinges on individual said sources to generate
evaporated vapor flux to at least partially coat a plurality of
said substrates, each of said substrates being coated respectively
from a singular said evaporant source.
15. The method of claim 3, further comprising: providing a
plurality of said nozzles, wherein said nozzle gaps being angular
channels; and providing a singular said electron beam, wherein said
singular electron beam impinges on individual said evaporant
sources to generate a large evaporated vapor flux to at least
partially coat a singular said substrate, said substrate being
coated from said plurality of said evaporant sources.
16. The method of claim 3, wherein: said evaporant bond coat
sources have substantially the same chemical composition relative
to one anther; and said evaporant thermal barrier coat sources have
substantially the same chemical composition relative to one
anther.
17. The method of claim 3, wherein: said evaporant bond coat
sources have substantially the same chemical composition relative
to one anther; and said evaporant thermal barrier coat sources have
substantially different chemical composition relative to one
anther.
18. The method of claim 17, further comprises: combining at least
two of said evaporant thermal barrier coat sources after
impingement but prior to reaching said substrates.
19. The method of claim 3, wherein: said evaporant bond coat
sources have substantially different chemical composition relative
to one anther; and said evaporant thermal barrier coat sources have
substantially different chemical composition relative to one
anther.
20. The method of claim 19, further comprises: combining at least
two of said evaporant bond coat sources after impingement but prior
to reaching said substrates.
21. The method of claim 19, further comprises: combining at least
two of said evaporant thermal barrier coat sources after
impingement but prior to reaching said substrates.
22. The method of claim 3, wherein: said evaporant bond coat
sources have substantially different chemical composition relative
to one anther; and said evaporant thermal barrier coat sources have
substantially same chemical composition relative to one anther.
23. The method of claim 22, further comprises: combining at least
two of said evaporant bond coat sources after impingement but prior
to reaching said substrates.
24. The method of claim 3, wherein: said evaporant bond coat source
is disposed in said nozzle; and/or said evaporant thermal barrier
coat source is disposed in said nozzle.
25. The method of claim 3, wherein: said evaporant bond coat source
is disposed in proximity to said nozzle; and/or said evaporant
thermal barrier coat source is disposed in proximity to said
nozzle.
26. The method of claim 3, further comprising: moving said
substrate before and/or during said depositing.
27. A method for forming a thermal barrier coating system in
communication with at least a portion of at least one substrate,
the method comprising: depositing a first bond coat on at least a
portion of at least one said substrate; depositing a first thermal
barrier coat disposed on said bond coat; and wherein said bond coat
and said thermal barrier coat are deposited without exposing said
thermal barrier coating system to atmospheric conditions.
28. The method of any one of claims 1, 2 and 27, wherein: said
first bond coat and said first thermal barrier coat is deposited
while in a single chamber.
29. The method of claim 28, wherein said deposition of said first
bond coat and said deposition of said first thermal barrier coat is
performed without removing said thermal barrier coating system from
said chamber.
30. The method of any one of claims 1, 2, and 27, further
comprising: impinging said first bond coat with an energetic beam
prior to depositing said first thermal barrier coating to provide
energetic treatment.
31. The method of any one of claims 1, 2 and 27, wherein: said
first bond coat is deposited in a first chamber; and said first
thermal barrier coat is deposited in a second chamber.
32. The method of claim 31, further comprising: impinging said
first bond coat with an energetic beam prior to depositing said
first thermal barrier coating to provide energetic treatment.
33. The method of claim 32 wherein said energetic beam treatment of
said first bond coat occurs in an intermediate chamber.
34. The method of any one of claims 1, 2 or 27, wherein: said first
thermal barrier coat comprises a material derived from at least one
evaporant thermal barrier coat source; and a portion of said first
thermal barrier coat being deposited on a non-line of sight region
of said first bond coat relative to at least one said evaporant
thermal barrier coat source.
35. The method of any one of claims 1, 2, or 27, wherein: said
first bond coat comprises a material derived from at least one
evaporant bond coat source; and a portion of said first bond coat
being deposited on a non-line of sight region of said substrate
relative to at least one said evaporant bond coat source.
36. The method of claim 35, wherein: said first thermal barrier
coat comprises a material derived from at least one evaporant
thermal barrier coat source; and a portion of said first thermal
barrier coat being deposited on a non-line of sight region of said
first bond coat relative to at least one said evaporant thermal
barrier coat source.
37. The method of any one of claims 1, 2, or 27, further
comprising: depositing a sealing layer on said deposited thermal
barrier coat.
38. The method of claim 37, wherein said sealing layer comprises a
second bond coat.
39. The method of claim 38, wherein: said second bond coat
comprises a material derived from at least one said evaporant bond
coat source; and a portion of said second bond coat being deposited
on a non-line of sight region of said first thermal barrier coat
relative to at least one said evaporant bond coat source.
40. The method of claim 38, further comprising: depositing a second
thermal barrier coat on said second bond coat.
41. The method of claim 40, wherein: said second thermal barrier
coat comprises a material derived from at least one said evaporant
thermal barrier coat source; and a portion of said second thermal
barrier coat being deposited on a non-line of sight region of said
1.sup.st bond coat relative to at least one said evaporant thermal
barrier coat source.
42. The method of claim 40, wherein: said second bond coat and said
second thermal barrier coat is deposited in a single chamber.
43. The method of claim 42, wherein said deposition of said second
bond coat and/or said deposition of said second thermal barrier
coat is performed without removing said thermal barrier coating
system from said chamber.
44. The method of claim 40, wherein said properties of said first
bond coat and/or first thermal barrier coat have the same material
properties as said second bond coat and/or second thermal barrier
coat, respectively.
45. The method of claim 40, wherein said properties of said first
bond coat and/or first thermal barrier coat have different material
properties as said second bond coat and/or second thermal barrier
coat, respectively.
46. The method of claim 40, further comprising: depositing one or
more additional alternating layers of bond coat and thermal barrier
coat to said second thermal barrier coat.
47. The method of claim 46, wherein said properties of said first
bond coat and/or first thermal barrier coat, said second bond coat
and/or second thermal barrier bond coat, and/or said additional
bond coat and/or additional thermal barrier coat have the same
material properties for respective bond coat and thermal barrier
coat layers.
48. The method of claim 46, wherein said properties of said first
bond coat and/or first thermal barrier coat, said second bond coat
and/or second thermal barrier bond coat, and/or said additional
bond coat and/or additional thermal barrier coat have different
material properties for respective bond coat and thermal barrier
coat layers.
49. The method of claim 40, further comprising: impinging said
second bond coat with an energetic beam prior to depositing said
second thermal barrier coating to provide energetic beam
treatment.
50. The method of claim 40, wherein: said second bond coat is
deposited while in said first chamber; and said second thermal
barrier coat is deposited while in said second chamber.
51. The method of claim 50, further comprising: impinging said
second bond coat with an energetic beam prior to depositing said
second thermal barrier coating to provide energetic beam
treatment.
52. The method of claim 51, wherein said energetic beam treatment
of said second bond coat occurs in said intermediate chamber.
53. A method for forming a thermal barrier coating system in
communication with at least a portion of at least one substrate,
the method comprising: depositing a first bond coat on at least a
portion of at least one said substrate; depositing a first thermal
barrier coat disposed on said bond coat; and said deposition occurs
in one or more chambers to form said thermal barrier coating
system; wherein: said deposition of said deposition of said first
bond coat and said deposition of said first thermal barrier coat is
performed without out-of-chamber handling of said thermal barrier
coating system.
54. The method of claim 53, wherein: said first bond coat and said
first thermal barrier coat is deposited while in said chamber,
wherein said chamber being a single chamber.
55. The method of claim 54, wherein said deposition of said second
bond coat and/or said deposition of said second thermal barrier
coat is performed without removing said thermal barrier coating
system from said chamber.
56. The method of claim 53, further comprising: impinging said
first bond coat with an energetic beam prior to depositing said
first thermal barrier coating to provide energetic treatment.
57. The method of claim 53, wherein: said first bond coat is
deposited in said chamber; and said first thermal barrier coat is
deposited in a second chamber.
58. The method of claim 57, further comprising: impinging said
first bond coat with an energetic beam prior to depositing said
first thermal barrier coating to provide energetic treatment.
59. The method of claim 58 wherein said energetic beam treatment of
said first bond coat occurs in an intermediate chamber to provide
energetic treatment.
60. The method of claim 53, wherein: said first thermal barrier
coat comprises a material derived from at least one evaporant
thermal barrier coat source; and a portion of said first thermal
barrier coat being deposited on a non-line of sight region of said
first bond coat relative to at least one said evaporant thermal
barrier coat source.
61. The method of claim 60, wherein: the down stream pressure,
P.sub.c, of said chamber has an operating range from about Pa to
about 133 Pa.
62. The method of claim 53, wherein: said first bond coat comprises
a material derived from at least one evaporant bond coat source;
and a portion of said first bond coat being deposited on a non-line
of sight region of said substrate relative to at least one said
evaporant bond coat source.
63. The method of claim 62, wherein: said first thermal barrier
coat comprises a material derived from at least one evaporant
thermal barrier coat source; and a portion of said first thermal
barrier coat being deposited on a non-line of sight region of said
first bond coat relative to at least one said evaporant thermal
barrier coat source.
64. The method of claim 62, wherein: the down stream pressure,
P.sub.c, of said chamber has an operating range from about 1 Pa to
about 133 Pa.
65. An apparatus forming a thermal barrier coating system in
communication with at least a portion of at least one substrate,
said apparatus comprising: a directed vapor deposition (DVD)
apparatus, an evaporation (thermal, RF, laser, or electron beam)
apparatus, a reactive evaporation apparatus, a sputtering (DC, RF,
microwave and/or magnetron) apparatus, a reactive sputtering
apparatus, an electron beam physical vapor deposition (EF-PVD)
apparatus, an ion plasma deposition (IPD) apparatus, a low pressure
plasma spray (LPPS) apparatus, a high velocity oxy-fuel (HVOF)
apparatus, a vapor deposition apparatus, a cluster deposition
apparatus, a cathodic arc deposition apparatus, or a jet vapor
deposition apparatus, or any combination thereof, wherein said
apparatus for forming said thermal barrier coating system is
adapted to: deposit a bond coat on at least a portion of at least
one said substrate; and deposit a thermal barrier coat disposed on
said bond coat.
66. An apparatus for forming a thermal barrier coating system in
communication with at least a portion of at least one substrate,
said apparatus comprising: a directed vapor deposition (DVD)
apparatus, wherein said apparatus for forming said thermal barrier
coating system is adapted to: deposit a bond coat on at least a
portion of at least one said substrate; and deposit a thermal
barrier coat disposed on said bond coat
67. An apparatus for forming a thermal barrier coating system in
communication with at least a portion of at least one substrate,
said apparatus being adapted to: deposit a first bond coat on at
least a portion of at least one said substrate; deposit a first
thermal barrier coat disposed on said bond coat; and wherein said
apparatus being adapted whereby said bond coat and said thermal
barrier coat are deposited without exposing said thermal barrier
coating system to atmospheric conditions.
68. An apparatus for forming a thermal barrier coating system in
communication with at least a portion of at least one substrate,
said apparatus being adapted to: deposit a first bond coat on at
least a portion of at least one said substrate; deposit a first
thermal barrier coat disposed on said bond coat; and one or more
chambers, wherein said apparatus being adapted whereby said
deposition occurs in one or more chambers to form said thermal
barrier coating system; wherein: said deposition of said first bond
coat and said deposition of said first thermal barrier coat is
performed without out-of-chamber handling of said thermal barrier
coating system.
69. A thermal barrier coating system in communication with at least
a portion of at least one substrate, the coating system comprising:
a bond coat on at least a portion of at least one said substrate; a
thermal barrier coat disposed on said bond coat; and a sealant
layer on said deposited thermal barrier coat.
70. The thermal barrier coating system of claim 69, where said
sealant layer comprises a second bond coat.
71. The thermal barrier coating system of claim 70, further
comprising: a second thermal barrier coat on said second bond
coat.
72. The thermal barrier coating system of claim 71, wherein said
properties of said first bond coat and/or first thermal barrier
coat have the same material properties as said second bond coat
and/or second thermal barrier coat, respectively.
73. The thermal barrier coating system of claim 71, wherein said
properties of said first bond coat and/or first thermal barrier
coat have different material properties as said second bond coat
and/or second thermal barrier coat, respectively.
74. The thermal barrier coating system of claim 71, further
comprising: one or more additional alternating layers of bond coat
and thermal barrier coat to said second thermal barrier coat.
75. The thermal barrier coating system of claim 74, wherein said
properties of said first bond coat and/or first thermal barrier
coat, said second bond coat and/or second thermal barrier bond
coat, and/or said additional bond coat and/or additional thermal
barrier coat have the same material properties for respective bond
coat and thermal barrier coat layers.
76. The thermal barrier coating system of claim 74, wherein said
properties of said first bond coat and/or first thermal barrier
coat, said second bond coat and/or second thermal barrier bond
coat, and/or said additional bond coat and/or additional thermal
barrier coat have different material properties for respective bond
coat and thermal barrier coat layers.
Description
CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] The present application claims priority from U.S.
Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/695,348, filed Jun. 30,
2006, entitled "Prime Reliant Thermal Barrier Coating Concepts and
Methods of Making the Same," the entire disclosure of which is
hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] Thermal Barrier Coatings (TBCs) are used extensively in
aircraft, marine and industrial gas turbine engines and in some
diesel engines. They typically consist of a single metallic (or
intermetallic) bond coat and a single ceramic top coat. The bond
coat is made from a high aluminum content alloy such as NiAl
modified with platinum and/or rare earth elements or a NiCoCrAlY
alloy is used to provide oxidation and hot corrosion protection of
the substrate (which is usually a nickel or cobalt based
superalloy) and to promote the growth of an alpha aluminum oxide
thermally grown oxide (TGO) which has high adhesion to the bond
growth and provides a stable surface for the top coats deposition.
The top coat typically consists of yttria stabilized zirconia (YSZ)
(typically 7-8 wt. % yttria with the balance zirconia). It provides
thermal insulation of the underlying metal. By insulating the
metallic component, its temperature is reduced allowing it to last
longer or to survive with less cooling air (cooling air reduces the
performance of the engine). Spallation, foreign object damage, hot
corrosion and glassy contaminants limit the average coating life
and preclude the use of these coatings in prime reliant
applications where failure of the coating would result in failure
of the components it is applied to.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF INVENTION
[0003] An aspect of various embodiments of the present invention
provides, but not limited thereto, (i) a new multilayer coating
architecture that will have robust performance in the cyclically
loaded environments of engines and the like and (ii) a new process
for malting (as well as related apparatus for making) either
existing single bond+top coat layer systems or multilayered systems
in a single deposition sequence within a single coating apparatus.
This processing approach is also able to, among other things,
"condition" the bond coating(s) surface to achieve a desired
surface topology and aluminum (or other) oxide phase and spatial
distribution. An aspect of various embodiments of the present
invention will enable the deposition of thermal barrier coatings
(TBCs) with a controlled interface between the bond coat and the
top coat and a novel coating structure consisting of a primary bond
coat and top coat and at least one secondary bond coat and top coat
to enable prime reliant requirements to be met. An aspect of an
approach of various embodiments of the present can be implemented
in a small coating system with low capital costs so that small
volumes of parts can be deposited at low cost. The compositional
and morphological flexibility of this approach also enables many
other advanced multilayered functional coating to be more
economically deposited (such as those for erosion or hot
corrosion). It is envisioned that cost benefits will result from
the reduction in the time (value added time and production flow
time), man-power and equipment needed to create conventional single
layered TBC coatings. Significant performance benefits are enabled
by the various embodiments of the present invention multilayer TBC
coating structures.
[0004] An aspect of an embodiment of the present provides a method
for forming a thermal barrier coating system in communication with
at least a portion of at least one substrate. The method may
comprise: depositing a bond coat on at least a portion of at least
one the substrate; depositing a thermal barrier coat disposed on
the bond coat; and wherein the bond coat and the thermal barrier
coat are deposited using at least one of a variety of deposition
techniques. Such techniques may include, but not limited thereto,
the following: directed vapor deposition (DVD), evaporation
(thermal, RF, laser, or electron beam), reactive evaporation,
sputtering (DC, RF, microwave and/or magnetron), reactive
sputtering, electron beam physical vapor deposition (EF-PVD), ion
plasma deposition (IPD), low pressure plasma spray (LPPS), high
velocity oxy-fuel (HVOF), vapor deposition, cluster deposition,
cathodic arc deposition, or jet vapor deposition, or any
combination thereof.
[0005] An aspect of an embodiment of the present provides a method
for forming a thermal barrier coating system in communication with
at least a portion of at least one substrate. The method may
comprise: depositing a bond coat on at least a portion of at least
one the substrate; depositing a thermal barrier coat disposed on
the bond coat; and wherein the bond coat and the thermal barrier
coat are deposited using directed vapor deposition (DVD). Further,
a more detailed description of the method further comprises:
presenting the at least one substrate to a chamber, wherein the
chamber has a down stream pressure, P.sub.c, with an operating
range from about 0.0001 Pa to about 150 Pa; presenting at least one
evaporant source to the chamber for the bond coat; presenting at
least one evaporant source to the chamber for the thermal barrier
coat; presenting at least one carrier gas stream to the chamber,
wherein the at least one carrier gas stream is generated from at
least one nozzle; impinging at least one the evaporant bond coat
source with at least one energetic beam in the chamber to generate
an evaporated bond coat vapor flux in a main direction respective
for any of the evaporant sources impinged by the energetic beam;
impinging at least one evaporant thermal barrier coat source with
at least one energetic beam in the chamber to generate an
evaporated thermal barrier coat vapor flux in a main direction
respective for any of the evaporant sources impinged by the
energetic beam; the at least one carrier gas stream has a pressure
ratio in the operating range from about 1.01 to about 10,000,000;
the substrate having a temperature approximately equal to or
greater than a melting point of the substrate; the at least one
evaporant bond coat source and the at least one evaporant thermal
barrier coat source generate the evaporated vapor flux and an
evaporation rate in the range of about 0.00001 g/min to about
100,000 g/min; and deflecting at least one of the generated
evaporated bond coat vapor flux and the generated evaporated
thermal barrier coat vapor flux by at least one of the carrier gas
stream, wherein the carrier gas stream is essentially parallel to
the main direction and substantially surrounds the evaporated bond
coat flux and the generated evaporated thermal barrier coat vapor
flux, wherein the evaporated vapor bond coat flux at least
partially coast the substrate to provide a bond coat and the
generated evaporated thermal barrier coat vapor flux at least
partially coats the bond coat to provide a thermal barrier
coat.
[0006] An aspect of an embodiment of the present provides a method
for forming a thermal barrier coating system in communication with
at least a portion of at least one substrate. The method may
comprise: depositing a first bond coat on at least a portion of at
least one the substrate; depositing a first thermal barrier coat
disposed on the bond coat; and wherein the bond coat and the
thermal barrier coat are deposited without exposing the thermal
barrier coating system to atmospheric conditions.
[0007] An aspect of an embodiment of the present provides a method
for forming a thermal barrier coating system in communication with
at least a portion of at least one substrate. The method may
comprise: depositing a first bond coat on at least a portion of at
least one the substrate; depositing a first thermal barrier coat
disposed on the bond coat; and the deposition occurs in one or more
chambers to form the thermal barrier coating system; wherein: the
deposition of the deposition of the first bond coat and the
deposition of the first thermal barrier coat is performed without
out-of-chamber handling of the thermal barrier coating system.
Further, the method may provide for non-line of sight coating
(NLOS) (for example), wherein the down stream pressure, P.sub.c, of
the chamber has an operating may be in the range of range from
about 1 Pa to about 133 Pa (other ranges and processing
conditions/parameters are feasible as desired and required)
[0008] An aspect of an embodiment of the present provides an
apparatus for forming thermal barrier coating system in
communication with at least a portion of at least one substrate.
The apparatus may comprise, but not limited thereto, the
following:: a directed vapor deposition (DVD) apparatus, an
evaporation (thermal, RF, laser, or electron beam) apparatus, a
reactive evaporation apparatus, a sputtering (DC, RF, microwave
and/or magnetron) apparatus, a reactive sputtering apparatus, an
electron beam physical vapor deposition (EF-PVD) apparatus, an ion
plasma deposition (IPD) apparatus, a low pressure plasma spray
(LPPS) apparatus, a high velocity oxy-fuel (HVOF) apparatus, a
vapor deposition apparatus, a cluster deposition apparatus, a
cathodic arc deposition apparatus, or a jet vapor deposition
apparatus, or any combination thereof. The apparatus for forming
the thermal barrier coating system is adapted to: deposit a bond
coat on at least a portion of at least one the substrate; and
deposit a thermal barrier coat disposed on the bond coat.
[0009] An aspect of an embodiment of the present provides an
apparatus for forming a thermal barrier coating system in
communication with at least a portion of at least one substrate.
The apparatus may comprise a directed vapor deposition (DVD)
apparatus, wherein the apparatus for forming the thermal barrier
coating system is adapted to: deposit a bond coat on at least a
portion of at least one the substrate; and deposit a thermal
barrier coat disposed on the bond coat
[0010] An aspect of an embodiment of the present provides an
apparatus for forming a thermal barrier coating system in
communication with at least a portion of at least one substrate.
The apparatus may be adapted to: deposit a first bond coat on at
least a portion of at least one the substrate; deposit a first
thermal barrier coat disposed on the bond coat; and wherein the
apparatus being adapted whereby the bond coat and the thermal
barrier coat are deposited without exposing the thermal barrier
coating system to atmospheric conditions.
[0011] An aspect of an embodiment of the present provides an
apparatus for forming a thermal barrier coating system in
communication with at least a portion of at least one substrate.
The apparatus may be adapted to: deposit a first bond coat on at
least a portion of at least one the substrate; deposit a first
thermal barrier coat disposed on the bond coat; and one or more
chambers, wherein the apparatus being adapted whereby the
deposition occurs in one or more chambers to form the thermal
barrier coating system; wherein: the deposition of the first bond
coat and the deposition of the first thermal barrier coat is
performed without out-of-chamber handling of the thermal barrier
coating system.
[0012] An aspect of an embodiment of the present provides a thermal
barrier coating system in communication with at least a portion of
at least one substrate. The coating system may comprise: a bond
coat on at least a portion of at least one the substrate; a thermal
barrier coat disposed on the bond coat; and a sealant layer on the
deposited thermal barrier coat. Further, wherein the sealant layer
may be a second bond coat layer.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE DRAWINGS
[0013] FIG. 1 is a schematic illustration of the energetic beam
(e.g., e-beam) orientation in one configuration of a DVD processing
system.
[0014] FIG. 2 is a schematic illustration of the directed vapor
deposition (DVD) apparatus.
[0015] FIG. 3 is a schematic illustration of directed vapor
deposition (DVD) apparatus including a hollow cathode arc plasma
activation and substrate bias.
[0016] FIG. 4(A) illustrates a TBC system structure deposited onto
a porous YSZ substrate.
[0017] FIG. 4(B) represents a micrographic depiction of a partial
enlarged view of FIG. 4(A) of the thermal barrier coat layer of a
dense YSZ layer deposited onto a porous YSZ substrate using plasma
activation.
[0018] FIG. 5 is a schematic illustration of the TB.sup.2C
structure. This concept (enabled by DVD technology) enables prime
reliant or very long lived TBCs by removing the processes which
cause failure away from the primary TBC layer. The result is a more
graceful and easily detectable failure of the TBC that will promote
the use of these layers as prime reliant coatings.
[0019] FIG. 6 is a schematic illustration of a multi-layered
thermal barrier coating having a primary bond coat and top coat and
multiple secondary bond coats and top coats.
[0020] FIG. 7 is a schematic illustration of a multilayered TBC
coating having a primary bond coat and top coat and multiple
secondary bond coats and top coats. Each of the bond coats and top
coats has a different composition to give the coating improved
properties. The compositions (and substrate material) may be a
variety of required or desired compositions (and substrate
material) and should not be limited to the exemplary compositions
(and substrate material) as illustrated.
[0021] FIG. 8(A) is a schematic illustration of a side view of the
crucible/gas jet nozzle configuration used for the high rate
deposition of bond coat and top coat materials onto IGT parts.
[0022] FIG. 8(B) is a schematic illustration of the corresponding
top view of the crucible/gas jet nozzle configuration of FIG.
8(A).
[0023] FIG. 9 is a schematic illustration showing a production
coating concept that will enable the single-step deposition of a
complete TBC system as well as advanced multilayered
structures.
[0024] FIG. 10(A) is a schematic illustration showing the
multi-source evaporation crucible/nozzle configuration to be used
during this task. The bond coat deposition portion of the
processing sequence is shown where Ni, Al and Pt will be
evaporated.
[0025] FIG. 10(B) is a schematic illustration of the corresponding
multi-source evaporation crucible/nozzle configuration to be used
during this task, wherein the e-beam scanning pattern has been
altered to evaporate the YSZ source.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Thermal Barrier Coatings
[0026] The performance (fuel efficiency and thrust) of gas turbine
engines is greatly improved as engine operating temperatures are
increased. Similar improvements are seen for diesel engines. As a
result, the hot structural components of these engines are designed
to operate at very high temperatures, often approaching their
melting point. As gas inlet temperatures have continued to rise,
failure by thermally-induced mechanisms have been avoided through
the development of higher temperature alloys, and for gas turbine
engines by the emergence of directionally solidified and single
crystal turbine blades, and by designing airfoil components with
internal cooling conduits to allow injected compressor discharge
air to decrease the component temperature. The use of cooling air,
however, reduces engine efficiency and thus, it is desirable to
minimize the use of this air for cooling purposes. All these
approaches have now matured and alternate strategies that exploit
the insulating abilities of thermal barrier coatings (TBC's) are
the most realistic near-term technology for thermally protecting
engine components to enable higher gas inlet temperatures. TBC's
have the potential to delay (or avoid completely) the costly (and
difficult) development of higher temperature replacement materials
for the nickel based superalloy components currently used in the
hot sections of these engines.
[0027] As a result, TBC are now widely utilized in gas turbine
engines. A TBC works by creating a thermally insulating layer
between the hot engine gases and the air-cooled component. The
resulting temperature drop across the coating (170.degree. C. or
greater is possible) "protects" the component surface by lowering
the temperature that it is exposed to. A lack of durability in
these systems, however, has limited engine designers to only use
them primarily for component life extension. Experience with TBC's
on aircraft engine turbine airfoils has shown that current TBC
systems provide a component life improvement of at least 2.times.
and that some modest reduction in component cooling airflow can be
achieved. Both contribute to a performance gain for the engines
that use them. As TBC technology has matured, increased emphasis is
being placed upon the ultimate temperature benefit and durability
that can be derived from these systems. Much greater engine
performance benefit, up to several percent thrust improvement or
specific fuel consumption reduction, is possible if the full
potential of a lower thermal conductivity TBC system were realized.
Such improvements can only be exploited if the coatings are so
reliable that they can be guaranteed not to cause engine
failure.
[0028] Today's TBC systems consist of a single bond coat, a single
thermally grown oxide (TGO), and a single thermally insulating
ceramic TBC (top coat). In most applications, the bond coat is
either a MCrAlY (where M=Ni or NiCo) or a Pt modified aluminide
coating. The bond coat (typically .about.50 .mu.m thick) is
required to provide protection to the superalloy substrate from
oxidation and hot corrosion attack and to form an adherent TGO on
its surface. The TGO is formed by oxidation of the aluminum that is
contained in the bond coat to form aluminum oxide. The TBC layer is
currently 7 wt % yttria stabilized zirconia (7YSZ) with a typical
thickness of 100-300 um. The EB-PVD process used to apply the TBC
produces a columnar microstructure with several levels of porosity.
The porosity between the columns is critical to providing strain
tolerance (via a very low in-plane modulus) for the TBC, as it
would otherwise spall on thermal cycling due to thermal expansion
mismatch with the superalloy substrate. The finer porosity aids in
reducing the thermal conductivity. The current life-limiting
feature of TBCs is delamination of the ceramic topcoat. As the TGO
thickness exceeds several microns, it cracks laterally and the
topcoat is no longer attached, resulting in the failure of the TBC.
In addition, if the TGO forms a non-planar interface with the
ceramic topcoat (due often to bond coat rumpling), stresses within
it intensify, leading to cracking at even thinner TGO thicknesses.
The loss of aluminum from the bond coat during thermal exposure
results in martensitic transformations in the bond coat that drives
the rumpling phenomena. Other issues also exist for the development
of more durable TBC systems. These include the anticipated higher
temperature exposures of the top and bond coats, the unpredictable
TBC loss at airfoil leading edges due to erosion and impact damage
(i.e. foreign object damage or FOD) and failures related to the
presence of calcium magnesium aluminosilicate (CMAS) in the
engine.
[0029] In next generation TBC's, higher thermal gradients are
envisioned through a "prime reliant" TBC that will drive the
surface temperature of the top coat closer to the turbine inlet gas
temperature. The inlet temperature is expected to continually rise
and operating temperatures in these engines will be well above
current levels where TBCs have demonstrated success. Bond coat
temperatures will also rise as the next generation of superalloy is
used at higher temperatures. Concurrently, longer lives at these
temperatures will be desired for cost reduction. This will require
advanced top coat materials and structures with better the high
temperature phase and microstructural stability and advanced bond
coats with improved oxidation properties and high temperature
properties.
[0030] Currently, however, engine designers do not use TBC's in a
prime reliant manner. As a result, the maximum performance benefits
of the TBC are not taken advantage of. Instead TBC's are most
typically used only to extend the lifetime of the turbine
components. In order to use TBC's in a prime reliant manner the
durability of the coatings must be improved and they must be able
to survive any potentially damaging event the may occur during the
life of an engine. In addition to failures related to stresses in
the TGO, a "prime reliant" TBC system must also survive damage of
the TBC by material ingested into the engine. This material can
either thin the top coat or remove the entire top coat from local
regions of the component. The result is higher local bond coat
temperatures that can accelerate TGO failure mechanisms. Current
designs require full cooling airflow in these impact damage prone
areas. Erosion rates are related to the top coat materials and
microstructural features, such as column density, diameter and
orientation. Large column sizes or sintered together volumes of
columns and off-normal columns result in the highest erosion rates.
Exposure to CMAS at temperatures above its melting point
(.about.1250.degree. C.) can also sinter together columns and thus,
detrimentally affect erosion rates. In extreme cases, high
temperature sintering and CMAS exposure result in sufficient
loss-of-compliance to delaminate the entire top coat. Although
secondary issues for current TBC systems, as more durable, higher
performance TBC's are developed these issues will become more
important and therefore must be considered in the design of any
next generation TBC system. If coating structures are developed
that suppress or control these damage mechanisms engines
temperatures could be reliably increased and large increases in the
engine performance could be achieved.
[0031] The conventional two layer TBC system structure has been
successful in extending the life of the underlying component have
not enabled the coatings to be used in a prime reliant manner and
may never achieve that goal. However, while the convention system
architecture is a solution within the processing constraints; we
contend it is not the "ideal" TBC system structure. Instead we view
it as the "best" TBC structure that is easy to make with
conventional deployed process technologies.
[0032] Accordingly, through the development of advanced TBC
manufacturing approaches provided by the present invention more
advanced multilayered TBC concepts have been conceived here which
shall greatly improve coating performance. These coating structures
and methods for applying such coating structures are described
below.
Advanced Coating Structures Enabled Using Multilayered TBC
Designs
[0033] Referring to FIG. 1, FIG. 1 is a schematic illustration of
the energetic beam (e.g., e-beam) orientation in a configuration of
an embodiment of the present invention DVD processing system. In an
embodiment, the carrier gas 105 flows completely or substantially
around the crucible 110 so that the vapor flux 115 can be focused
onto the substrate 120 located directly above the evaporant
source(s) 125. The carrier gas 105 may be adapted to flow
substantially parallel with the normal axis, identified as CL, or
other direction(s) as desired. Additionally, as will be discussed
later herein, the nozzle 130 has a nozzle hole or opening 131,
through which the carrier gas 105 flows, and may be designed such
that a more optimal carrier gas speed distribution for focusing the
vapor 115 is produced. Also shown is the electron energetic beam
103 (e.g., beam gun) and vacuum chamber 104.
[0034] Referring to FIG. 2, FIG. 2 is a schematic illustration of
the directed vapor deposition (DVD) process. In the DVD, the
carrier gas stream 205 is created by a rarefied, inert gas
supersonic expansion through a nozzle 230. The speed and flux of
the atoms entering the chamber 204, the nozzle parameters, and the
operating chamber pressure can all be varied leading to a wide
range of accessible processing conditions. As part of the process
the supersonic carrier gas stream may be maintained by achieving a
high upstream pressure (i.e. the gas pressure prior to its entrance
into the processing chamber), P.sub.u, and a lower chamber
pressure, P.sub.o. The ratio of the upstream to downstream pressure
along with the size and shape of the nozzle opening 231 controls
the speed of the gas entering the chamber 204. The carrier gas
molecular weight (compared to that of the vapor) and the carrier
gas speed controls its effectiveness in redirecting the vapor atoms
via binary collisions towards the substrate 20. As will be
discussed later, alternative embodiments of the present invention
process will provide other capabilities to evaporate from one, two
or more individual source rods and the ability to ionize the
evaporated flux using hollow cathode plasma activation.
[0035] Still referring to FIG. 2, the aforementioned DVD process as
schematically shown in FIG. 2, improves the deposition efficiency,
increases the deposition rate, optionally provides coating
dispersoids, and enhances the coating uniformity, as well as other
aspects as discussed throughout this document. As will be discussed
later, the hollow cathode system 258 is optional based on desired
operations. In an embodiment, the carrier gas 205 is realigned so
that it is substantially in-line with the crucible 210. In this
alignment, the carrier gas flow is placed completely or
substantially around the crucible 210 so that the vapor flux 215 no
longer has to be turned 90 degrees towards the substrate 20, but
rather can be simply focused onto the substrate located directly
above the evaporant source 225 for material A and/or B and/or
evaporant source 226 for material C. For example, material A, B
and/or C may include Zirconium, Hafnium, mullite, alumina, silica,
any oxide ceramic, ceria, zirconate, garnet, lanthanum aluminate,
titania, any carbide, silicide or combination thereof, as well as
other ceramic materials or combinations thereof. It should be
appreciated that as discussed throughout this document, materials
A, B and/or C may have substantially the same chemical composition
relative to one another; or alternatively may have different
chemical compositions relative to one another.
[0036] Further, it should be appreciated that as discussed
throughout out this document, the size or area of the evaporant
source may vary as desired or required. Exemplary ranges may
include, but not limited thereto, the evaporant source having a
diameter in the range of about 0.1 inch to about 10 inch or about
0.5 inch to about 1 inch. Again, the size and area may be larger or
smaller. For example, exemplary surface areas may include ranges
from about 0.007 to about 80 square inches or about 0.19 to about
0.8 square inches. The evaporant surface areas may be larger or
smaller depending on the coating/deposition process
requirements.
[0037] The carrier gas 205 flows substantially parallel with the
normal axis, identified as CL. Additionally, as will be discussed
later herein, the nozzle 230 has a nozzle gap or opening 232,
through which carrier gas 205 flows, is designed such that a more
optimal carrier gas speed distribution for focusing the vapor 215
is produced. Also shown is the energetic beam source 203 (as
discussed throughout this document), which should be appreciated to
take a variety of forms as such as, but not limited thereto,
electron beam source, laser source, heat source, ion bombardment
source, highly focused incoherent light source, microwave, radio
frequency, EMF, or combination thereof, or any energetic beams that
break chemical bonds.
[0038] Turning to FIG. 3, the major components of the present
invention DVD apparatus including a hollow cathode arc plasma
activation and substrate bias supply as schematically shown. The
present invention DVD system embodiment comprises a vacuum chamber
304, a first rod feed evaporator 325 (evaporant A &/or B)
and/or second rod evaporator 326 (evaporant C) that are placed and
heated up to evaporation temperature of evaporant by the
electron-beam of an electron gun 303 and provides the vapor for
coating of substrates 320. Vaporized evaporant is entrained in the
supersonic gas and vapor stream 315 formed by the nozzle 330. The
substrate(s) 320 are fixed at a substrate holder 343 which enables
shift (or any desired/required movement) of the substrate 20 in any
independent direction and to be swiveled. For example, the
translation motion in the horizontal plan allows the exposed
surface areas of the substrate to the vapor stream for defined
dwelling times and control of the local coating thickness. The
vertical motion can be used to keep constant the distance between
plasma and surface for curved substrates. Swivel motion, in
coordination with the translation motions, can be used to enable
the coating of complete three-dimensional parts or can be used also
to change the incidence angle of the vapor particles in the course
of layer coating in a defined way for getting distinct layer
properties. The hollow cathode (arc source) 358 is placed laterally
below substrate holder 343 with a short distance between the
cathode orifice 359 and the gas and vapor stream 315. The anode 360
is arranged opposite the cathode orifice 359 (i.e., on an
approximate distant side of the stream 315) so that the fast
electrons and the plasma discharge 361 crosses the gas and vapor
stream 315. The fixtures for the cathode 346 and for the anode 347
provide the ability to adjust the distance of the cathode 358 and
the anode 360, thereby influencing the diameter and the shape of
gas and vapor stream 315.
[0039] The plasma discharge 361 is in close proximity (arranged
with short distance) to the surface of the substrate 320 enabling
close contact between dense plasma and the substrate surface to be
coated. In the vicinity of the evaporation electron-beam from the
electron gun 303, the anode power line 349 from the power generator
350 to the anode 360 is arranged closely and in parallel with both
the plasma discharge 359 and the cathode power line 351, which runs
from the cathode to the power generator 350. Between the substrate
320 and the anode 360, a bias generator 352 is applied that allows
for generation of a positive, a negative or a periodically
alternating voltage between the substrate 320 and the plasma
361.
[0040] In all such cases, the ability to deposit compositionally
controlled coatings efficiently, uniformly, at a high rate, with
high part throughput, and in a cost-effective manner, among other
things, is desired. According to the design criteria discussed
throughout, some illustrative examples of deposition systems and
methods (and resultant thermal barrier composition system
structures) that may be implemented with some embodiments of the
present invention are provided in the following applications and
patents and are assigned to the present assignee and are all
incorporated by reference herein in their entirety:
[0041] 1) U.S. Pat. No. 5,534,314, filed Aug. 31, 1994, entitled
"Directed Vapor Deposition of Electron Beam Evaporant,"
[0042] 2) U.S. Pat. No. 5,736,073, filed Jul. 8, 1996, entitled
"Production of Nanometer Particles by Directed Vapor Deposition of
Electron Beam Evaporant,"
[0043] 3) U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/634,457 and
corresponding U.S. Pat. No. 6,478,931 B1, filed Aug. 7, 2000,
entitled "Apparatus and Method for Intra-layer Modulation of the
Material Deposition and Assist Beam and the Multilayer Structure
Produced There from,"
[0044] 4) International Application No. PCT/US01/16693, filed May
23, 2001 entitled "A Process and Apparatus for Plasma Activated
Deposition in a Vacuum," and corresponding U.S. Pat. No.
7,014,889,
[0045] 5) International Application No. PCT/US02/13639, filed Apr.
30, 2002, and corresponding U.S. application Ser. No. 10/476,309,
filed Oct. 29, 2003 entitled "Method and Apparatus for Efficient
Application of Substrate Coating,"
[0046] 6) International Application No. PCT/US2003/037485, filed
Nov. 21, 2003 entitled "Bond Coat for a Thermal Barrier Coating
System and Related Method thereof," and corresponding U.S.
application Ser. No. 10/535,364, filed May 18, 2005,
[0047] 7) International Application No. PCT/US2003/036035, filed
Nov. 12, 2003, entitled "Extremely Strain Tolerant Thermal
Protection Coating and Related Method and Apparatus thereof," and
corresponding U.S. application Ser. No. 10/533,993, filed May 5,
2005,
[0048] 8) International Application No. PCT/US2003/012920, filed
Apr. 25, 2003, entitled "Apparatus and Method for High Rate Uniform
Coating, Including Non-line of Sight," and corresponding U.S.
application Ser. No. 10/512,161, filed on Oct. 15, 2004,
[0049] 9) International Application No. PCT/US2003/023111, filed
Jul. 24, 2003, entitled "Method and Apparatus for Dispersion
Strengthened Bond Coats for Thermal Barrier Coatings," and
corresponding U.S. application Ser. No. 10/522,076, filed on Jan.
21, 2005,
[0050] 10) International Application No. PCT/US02/28654, filed Sep.
10, 2002 entitled "Method and Apparatus for Application of Metallic
Alloy Coatings" and corresponding U.S. application Ser. No.
10/489,090, filed Mar. 9, 2004,
[0051] 11) International Application No. PCT/US2004/024232, filed
Jul. 28, 2004 entitled "Method for Application of a Thermal Barrier
Coating and Resultant Structure thereof" and corresponding U.S.
application Ser. No. 10/566,316, filed Jan. 27, 2006,
[0052] 12) International Application No. PCT/US2005/000606 filed
Jan. 10, 2005, and corresponding U.S. Application filed Jun. 28,
2006, and
[0053] 13) International Application No. PCT/US99/13450 filed Jun.
15, 1999 entitled "Apparatus and Method for Producing Thermal
Barrier Coatings" all of these patents and applications are hereby
incorporated by reference herein in their entirety.
[0054] According to the design criteria discussed throughout,
various substrate designs (walls, components, regions, structures,
longitudinal sections) of the present invention are possible. For
example, as shown in co-pending and co-assigned PCT International
Application No. PCT/US02/17942, entitled "Multifunctional Periodic
Cellular Solids And The Method Of Making the Same," filed on Jun.
6, 2002, and corresponding U.S. application Ser. No. 10/479,833,
filed Dec. 5, 2003, which is hereby incorporated by reference
herein in its entirety, there is provided ways of forming the
substrate as a core that is comprised of three-dimensional space
filling layers having an array of out-of-plane truss units. The
out-of-plane truss units may be a variety of shapes including
tetrahedral, pyramidal, Kagome, combinations thereof and other
non-limiting arrangements. The out-of-plane truss units have hollow
or solid leg members, for example, but not limited thereto. The
core may be affixed to face plates.
[0055] According to the design criteria discussed throughout, other
substrate designs (walls, components, regions, structures,
longitudinal sections) of the present invention are possible. As
shown in co-pending and co-assigned PCT International Application
No. PCT/US01/17363, entitled "Multifunctional Periodic Cellular
Solids And The Method Of Making Thereof," filed on May 29, 2001,
and corresponding U.S. application Ser. No. 10/296,728, filed Nov.
25, 2002, which are hereby incorporated by reference herein in
their entirety, there is provided ways of forming the substrate
that includes a core that is comprised of textile layers with a
center sheet disposed between adjacent said textile layers,
however, alternatively, the center sheet may be omitted. In
addition to woven textile arrays, various suitable materials may be
used. For example, some non-limiting examples are the following:
woven, knitted, braided, triaxial, and biaxial, pre-crimped
quasi-triaxial, 3-D braid textile, 3-D multi-ply weave, 3-D
triaxial weave, 3-D multi-axial weave, 3-D `H` or `I` beam, 3-D
honey-comb type configurations, respectively, that can be used in
arrays. Finally, other textile type classifications may be
implemented as discussed and as shown in PCT No. PCT/US01/17363 and
corresponding U.S. application Ser. No. 10/296,728.
[0056] In addition, according to the design criteria discussed
throughout, other substrate designs (walls, components, regions,
structures, longitudinal sections) of the present invention are
possible. As shown in co-pending and co-assigned PCT International
Application No. PCT/US01/22266, entitled "Heat Exchange Foam,"
filed on Jul. 16, 2001, and corresponding U.S. application Ser. No.
10/333,004, filed Jan. 14, 2003, which are hereby incorporated by
reference herein in their entirety, there is provided other ways of
forming the substrate coatings that includes a core that is
comprised of an open cell having solid or hollow ligaments, foam,
and/or interconnected network. Similarly, International Application
No. PCT/US01/25158, entitled "Multifunctional Battery and Method of
Making the Same," filed Aug. 10, 2001 and corresponding U.S.
application Ser. No. 10/110,368, filed Jul. 22, 2002 is included as
well.
[0057] Some exemplary, non-limiting, characteristics of the
above-referenced applications, publications and patents that which
the present application may implement include, but not limited
thereto, the following: processing conditions and types
(temperatures, pressures, gas and air flow, plasma systems, chamber
size and number, deposition systems, etc); evaporant source
conditions and types (including type, material, location, movement,
number, size, etc.); and substrate conditions and types (including
type, material, location, movement, number, size, etc.)
Controlled TBC/Bond Coat Interface
[0058] A critical manufacturing issue for TBC processing is the
wide range in TBC lifetimes that are observed for coating systems
consisting of the same TBC materials when different processing
scenarios are employed. One example is the 10.times. lifetime
improvement for EB-PVD deposited top layers compared to those of
APS. Another is displayed in the work of Gell where different bond
coat surface conditions were studied. In this case, grit blasted
bond coats (which is a common manufacturing treatment prior to top
coat deposition) were found to have a tight lifetime distribution
while un-grit blast samples had a much wider lifetime distribution
and some greatly extended lifetimes (3.times. longer than the grit
blast case). It is believed that grit blasting of the bond coat
surface introduces contaminates that result in an increased TGO
growth rate and adversely affects the spallation resistance of the
TGO. The rough surface created by grit blasting is, however, also
believed to promote the formation of the desired alpha alumina
phase and limit the formation of detrimental transient oxides.
These transient oxides or other surface features of the
"as-deposited" bond coat (such as those which may affect the
microstructure of the TBC top coat) are believed to result in the
occasional occurrence of short lives. The "infant" failures are
clearly unacceptable in production use leading to the practice of
grit blasting for the tighter lifetime distribution (at the cost of
lower lives). However, this work illustrates that advanced
manufacture processes that can produce more optimal interfaces
between the bond coat and top coat may greatly improve TBC
lifetimes in a reliable way.
[0059] DVD has the ability to manipulate the as-deposited interface
between the bond coat and top coat by altering DVD process
conditions, the use of plasma activation during the bond coat
deposition and the use of pulsed e-beam treatments of the bond coat
surface in-between the bond coat and top coat deposition. The
properties of the interface between the bond coat and the top coat
plays an important role in determining the lifetime of the TBC
system. Although this still a subject of some debate, it is clear
that the surface roughness, impurity level and defect density all
affect the quality of the TGO scale that forms between these
layers. We submit that in-situ control of the interfacial
properties by altering the bond coat deposition conditions and/or
by incorporating a pulsed, high energy e-beam treatment will enable
an ideal interface that yields both long lives and a tight lifetime
distribution.
[0060] Experimental and modeling studies have demonstrated that the
surface roughness of the coating after vapor deposition is a
function of the substrate temperature and kinetic energy of the
deposited vapor atoms. These features can be controlled in the DVD
approach by using substrate heating to alter thermal activation and
through the use of plasma activation and substrate biasing to
control the adatom kinetic energy. The effect of substrate heating
was shown by Zu (See Z. Yu, D. D. Hass and H. N. G. Wadley,
Materials Science and Engineering A, Volume 394, Issues 1-2, 15
Mar. 2005, Pages 43-52, of which is hereby incorporated by
reference herein in its entirety) where the altering of the
substrate temperature was found to alter the grain size and surface
roughness of nickel aluminide coatings deposited using DVD. In this
case, the surface roughness was in the form of terraces with the
number of terrace per unit distance decreasing with an increased
substrate temperature.
[0061] The use of advanced electron beam treating techniques will
also alter the interface. These approaches result in the remelting
and rapid solidification of very thin layers of a coating surface
(10-100 .mu.m). The post deposition treatment requires a special
pulsed EB source with high current density, produced and released
over short time. The resulting coating structure is well suited for
slow, adherent oxide growth. This is presumably due to the
advantageous properties which arise from the flash-like remelting
of the alloy such as the production of surfaces with remarkably
reduced roughness, fewer crack sources and the reduced content of
impurities and segregations (i.e. the flash re-melting effect).
This approach also has the advantage of being easily incorporated
into the single-step production coating sequence.
Sealing Layers
[0062] The deposition of TBC's with their coefficient of thermal
expansion (CTE) controlled sealing layers can be used to improve
the resistance of the TBC to calcium magnesium aluminosilicate
(CMAS) and salt destabilization. CMAS infiltration can lead to
sintering induced failures and will become more of an issue in the
future as the elevated temperatures of next generation coating
systems are more readily imployed. The sintering together of
columnar grains results in a loss of strain tolerance in the top
coat that results in premature failures. The ingestion of CMAS
(calcium magnesium aluminosilicate) into the engine can result in
similar effects. CMAS is a common dirt that is ingested into
turbines and deposits onto airfoil surfaces. In the turbine
section, CMAS can form a molten glass at temperatures above about
1250.degree. C. The CMAS wets 7YSZ and infiltrates the porous
microstructure. Away from the coating surface the CMAS solidifies
resulting in a loss of strain tolerance of the top coat. As surface
temperatures increase, the depth and severity of CMAS penetration
into 7YSZ is expected to increase. Vanadium based salts can also
damage top coats due to their ability to de-stabilize the 7YSZ
composition. Methodologies that prevent these issues will benefit
the development of prime reliant TBCs.
[0063] CMAS and molten salt protection can be obtained by employing
a dense, relatively high CTE layer as shown in FIG. 4(A). The high
CTE (>10.times.10.sup.-6) of several oxides (notably CeO.sub.2,
La.sub.2O.sub.5, Nd.sub.2O.sub.3) make them candidate materials for
this purpose. The dense layer would prevent CMAS infiltration into
the TBC and the high CTE (when coupled with the high temperature
gradient across the TBC) allows a good thermal expansion match with
the superalloy substrate to prevent cracking. The precise position
of this layer (with respect to the substrate) would depend upon the
actual temperature gradient in the coating and the CTE's of the
materials involved. An additional top layer may still be employed
over the sealing layer to prevent erosion, provide an additional
thermal benefit and tailor the temperature exposure of the sealing
layer to match its CTE. It should be appreciated that the
composition of the layers and substrate material may be a variety
of required or desired compositions and materials as disclosed
throughout the associated teachings of the various embodiments of
the present invention. The advent of new metallic alloys with good
ductility, and very low oxidation rates at high temperatures and
very high melting points also make metal layers possible as the
sealing layer. Especially if they are protected by a secondary
thermal barrier (see below). As shown in FIG. 4(A), a dense YSZ
layer is deposited onto a porous YSZ substrate using plasma
activation. In accordance with the various embodiments of the
present invention, FIG. 4(A) provides a schematic illustration of a
TBC system structure 90 disposed on a substrate 92 having a bond
coat 94 and thermal barrier coat layer 96, with a thermally grown
oxide (TGO) layer 99 there between, as well as an optional a
sealing layer 98. FIG. 4(B) represents a micrographic depiction of
a partial enlarged view of the thermal barrier coat layer 96 of
FIG. 4(A).
[0064] DVD has demonstrated the ability to deposit dense sealing
layers of a given material onto porous, columnar coatings. The
concern is the incorporation of porosity from the columnar layer
into the sealing layer, however, DVD's unique processing
environment that enables non line-of-sight coating onto the column
sides and plasma activation has demonstrated success in depositing
dense YSZ electrolytes on porous YSZ substrates in fuel cell
applications. Similar success for this application is anticipated
for TBC applications. The use of EB-treatments to re-melt the
sealing layer after deposition further increased the probability of
success.
Multi-Layered TBC Coatings
[0065] It has been demonstrated that dense layers of a material can
be deposited over a porous substrate. This is enabled with high
substrate temperatures, NLOS coating, plasma activation or the use
of the e-beam treatments. This ability sets up the capability of
depositing a secondary bond coat above the initial TBC. This
material would need to be a bond coat material with excellent
elevated temperature oxidation resistance since it would be on the
hot side of the TBC and have a similar CTE as the substrate
(ideally slightly lower due to the .DELTA.T across the TBC),
leaving it relatively unstressed at temperature. The secondary
thermal barrier could then be applied to provide thermal protection
for the secondary bond coat. The secondary bond coat and thermal
barrier would protect the primary TBC resulting in the possibility
of depending on the primary TBC as a prime reliant coating. The
resulting structure is given in FIG. 5. In accordance with the
various embodiments of the present invention, FIG. 5 provides a
schematic illustration of a TBC system structure 90 disposed on a
substrate 92 having a bond coat 94 (primary) and thermal barrier
coat layer 96 (primary), with a thermally grown oxide layer (TGO)
there between, as well as an optional a sealing layer that may
comprise 94B (secondary) and thermal barrier coat layer 96B
(secondary), with another thermally grown oxide (TGO) 99B layer
there between. It should be appreciated that the composition of the
layers and substrate material may be a variety of required or
desired compositions and materials as disclosed throughout the
associated teachings of the various embodiments of the present
invention.
[0066] In an embodiment, this multilayered TBC structure (i.e. a
TBC with two thermal barrier layers) would function as follows. The
primary bond coat and thermal barrier layer would function as a
prime reliant TBC. Thus, the engine operating temperature could be
increased by a given temperature. The secondary bond coat and
thermal barrier layer would protect the primary layers from the
combustion environment by absorbing the exposure of the primary
layers. This secondary coat will limit oxygen transport to the
primary bond coat and prevent erosion, molten salt infiltration,
vertical cracks from FOD and sintering in the primary thermal
barrier. Ideally, the secondary layer will always fail prior to the
primary layer, since it is exposed to higher temperatures,
oxidation, corrodants and erosion. The failure of the secondary
thermal barrier layer will be visually observable during inspection
(or with in-situ devices such as IR cameras). Provided the prime
reliant coating had a minimum life greater than the time between
visual inspections (or on-line inspections), the coating could be
used as a prime reliant layer for the life of the secondary layer.
The failure of the secondary layer would signal the end of the time
period where the primary layer could safely be used as a prime
reliant coating. Since TBCs will typically fail at the bond
coat/TGO or TGO/thermal barrier interfaces, the failure of the
secondary thermal barrier would not necessarily result in the
spallation of the secondary bond coat and thus this layer would
still provide protection for some period. The addition of advanced
materials in the primary and secondary layers as well as the
optimization of the bond coat/top coat interface will also extend
the useful life of the prime reliant coating. In situations where
prime reliance is not required these concepts would greatly improve
the current TBC lifetimes.
[0067] More complex structures having numerous bond coats and top
coats can also be set forth herein, as illustrated in FIG. 6, for
example, but not limited thereto. These multi-layered coatings have
additional advantages such as, but not limited thereto, the
creation of extra interfaces that introduce interfacial thermal
resistance and the mechanical and thermochemical decoupling if the
bond layers from the substrate. Both the top coat and the bond
coats would be thinner (as low as about 2 microns to about 5
microns, but not limited thereto) making it easier to create very
dense and flat bond coat layers (non-planar bond coats can also be
used to deposited brick-like structures to limit lateral crack
propagation). Other exemplary coat thickness may be, but not
limited thereto, about 2 microns to about 100 microns or about 0.5
microns to about 5,000 microns. It should be appreciated that the
composition of the layers and substrate material may be a variety
of required or desired compositions and materials as disclosed
throughout the associated teachings of the various embodiments of
the present invention. Coatings could consist of a minimum of two
layers (i.e. a single bond coat and top coat) up to an arbitrary
number of different layers. FIG. 6 schematically illustrates a
multi-layered thermal barrier coating having a primary bond coat
and top coat and multiple secondary bond coats and top coats. For
instance, an exemplary embodiment may comprise TBC system structure
90 disposed on a substrate 92 having a bond coat 94 (primary) and
thermal barrier coat layer 96 (primary), with a thermally grown
oxide layer (TGO) 99 there between, as well as a multiple layers
(one or more according to any desired or required number of
multiple layers) 94B-F and thermal barrier coat layer (one or more
according to any desired or required number of multiple layers)
96B-F. Further, it should be appreciated that the multiple layers
may include thermally grown oxide (TGO) layers 96B-F,
respectively.
[0068] These structures can be created using the single step TBC
processing set-up shown in FIGS. 1-3 and 8-10 (as discussed
herein). This concept would make the deposition of additional bond
coats and thermal barriers trivial. For example, multiple bond and
top coats could be deposited onto a component by moving the
component back and forth from the top coat deposition chamber to
the bond coat deposition chamber as the component would simply be
coated with a similar cycle multiple times. When using the single
chamber approach only the e-beam scanning pattern need to altered
to create multiple bond coats and top coats. The high rates
envisioned in this coater limit additional cost as these structures
could be created with a similar coating time as current TBCs.
[0069] Next, another aspect of various embodiments of the present
invention provides that coating structures can be made from any TBC
material (e.g., a PtAl bondcoat and 7YSZ topcoat or other top and
bond coats as desired or required). The secondary bond and top
coats may be the same composition as the primary layers or but can
also be altered to functionally grade the properties of the TBC, as
shown in FIG. 7. For example, the primary bond coat could have a
composition with elements that getter sulfur to improve the
adhesion of the TGO scale while the secondary bond coats may
contain increasing amounts of refractory elements to improve their
high temperature properties and reduce their coefficient of thermal
expansion (CTE). For the top coat composition, pore volume fraction
and pore morphology may all be altered to optimize properties. The
primary top coat layer may have a composition and pore morphology
optimized for low thermal conductivity while the secondary top
coats nearer the coating surface may be optimized for high
temperature phase stability and sintering resistance. The final
coating exposed to the engine environment could be optimized for
erosion resistance. It should be appreciated that the composition
of the layers and substrate material may be a variety of required
or desired compositions and materials as disclosed throughout the
associated teachings of the various embodiments of the present
invention. Other combinations are possible including top coat
zig-zag pore morphologies for lower thermal conductivity and
foreign object damage (FOD) resistance, top-coats doped for in-situ
temperature monitoring and bond coat compositions that resist
molten salt corrosion (hot corrosion). FIG. 7 schematically
illustrates a multilayered TBC coating having a primary bond coat
and top coat and multiple secondary bond coats and top coats. Each
of the bond coats and top coats has a different composition to give
the coating improved properties. For instance, an exemplary
embodiment may comprise TBC system structure 90 disposed on a
substrate 92 having a bond coat 94 (primary) and thermal barrier
coat layer 96 (primary), with a thermally grown oxide layer (TGO)
99 there between. Further, the embodiment may comprise multiple
(i.e., a second layer or more) bond coat layers 94B-F (or having
any desired or required material and compositions) and multiple
(i.e., a second layer or more) thermal barrier coat layers 96B-F
(having any desired or required material). Further it should be
appreciated that the multiple layers may include thermally grown
oxide (TGO) layers 99B-F, respectively.
TBC Processing Approach
Top Coat Deposition Approaches
[0070] To date, the lowest cost TBC top coats have been applied
using plasma spray (PS) processes, such as an air plasma spray
(APS). This approach employs a plasma torch to melt and spray
deposit YSZ droplets onto airfoil substrates. These deposits
contain disc-like pores in the plane of the coating resulting in a
YSZ top layer that has a low thermal conductivity. This is due to
the high thermal resistance of the pores oriented normal to the
heat flow direction. Unfortunately, these layers also have poor
spallation resistance, resulting from a combination of the
disc-like coating defects and the large thermal expansion mismatch
between the YSZ layer and the bond coat. This results in the
failure of the coatings within the YSZ layer during service and
results in a lack of reliability that limits these coatings to
component life extension.
[0071] More recently, TBC's have been produced by electron
beam-physical vapor deposition (EB-PVD). Using this technique the
YSZ layer has a columnar microstructure with elongated
inter-columnar voids aligned perpendicular to the substrate
surface. This structure results in a low in-plane stiffness that
limits thermomechanical stresses on heating/cooling and improved
spallation resistance compared to the LPPS layers. The columns
exhibit a tapered shape, growing wider with increased thickness, a
faceted surface and a strong {200} crystallographic texture.
Failure in these coatings no longer occurs within the YSZ layer but
at the TGO/bond coat interface. This failure path appears to result
from large stresses within the TGO layer, which increase with
oxidation induced layer growth in service. For turbine blade
applications, EB-PVD TBC's have the further advantages of limiting
the undesirable blocking of air cooling holes during deposition and
generating a smoother, more aerodynamic surface. However, EB-PVD
coatings have a higher thermal conductivity than their LPPS
counterparts and are more costly to apply (due to high equipment
costs, deposition efficiencies of about 2-5 percent of the
evaporated flux, and relatively slow (approximately 5 micrometers
(.mu.m) min.sup.-1 deposition rates). To make vapor phase deposited
TBC's a viable means for increasing engine performance, improved
deposition techniques/strategies are needed.
[0072] The cost of the EB-PVD coatings can be as much as ten times
that of PS coatings. The higher equipment costs of EB-PVD are a
result of the high vacuum environment that is necessary during
deposition (e.g., typically below 10.sup.-6 Torr), high cost of
high power electron beam guns, and sophisticated component
manipulation needed to achieve acceptable coatings. The operating
pressure defines the vacuum pump requirements with lower pressures
generally needing more expensive pumps. The low deposition rate and
low materials utilization efficiency (MUE) of EB-PVD is related to
the distribution of the vapor flux as it leaves the evaporated
source. Generally, the vapor flux spreads out from the source with
a distribution described by a cos.sup.n.theta. function (where n=2,
3, 4 or more, and .theta. is the angle to the normal axis). The
general alignment of the normal axis is referred to herein as the
main direction. When relatively long source-to-substrate distances
are required (e.g., as in YSZ deposition using EB-PVD where this
distance often approaches 50 cm to avoid substrate overheating)
deposition efficiency is dramatically decreased to 1-5 percent of
the evaporated flux and the deposition rate is proportionally
reduced. To overcome the low deposition rate, the evaporation rate
from the source materials is raised by increasing the electron beam
power. However, this is costly and during YSZ evaporation,
increased beam power leads to the production of molten droplets of
material rather than atomistic vapor. This produces coating
defects, and as a result, other approaches must be used to increase
deposition rates. The high cost of deposition also impedes the use
of physical vapor deposition methods for the deposition of bond
coats.
Bond Coat Deposition Approaches
[0073] Current bond coats are based on either MCrAlY (where, M=Ni,
Co) alloys or nickel aluminide intermetallics such as a platinum
modified nickel aluminide. MCrAlY bond coats can be applied using
either low-pressure plasma spray (LPPS), electron-beam physical
vapor deposition (EB-PVD) or by sputtering. The aluminide bond
coats are applied using a reaction-diffusion process. Several
variants of the latter process have been developed. They include
pack cementation, vapor phase aluminiding (VPA), and chemical vapor
deposition (CVD). After deposition of aluminum and a high
temperature reaction-diffusion annealing, these processes result in
a bond coat with two distinct zones: an outer zone which contains
an oxidation resistant .beta.-NiAl phase and a diffusion zone near
the bond coat-superalloy interface which consists of the oxidation
resistant phase and various secondary phases (such as the
Ni.sub.3Al gamma prime, various carbides and sigma phases). These
aluminide coatings are commonly called diffusion coatings.
[0074] Although these diffusion methods have successfully generated
nickel aluminide layers, they require a prolonged thermal exposure
of the coating-substrate system to form the appropriate (B2)
intermetallic NiAl phase. When further alloying (for example
addition of platinum) is required, an extra deposition process,
such as electroplating, has to be appended to the fabrication
process. This increases the complexity of the technical approach
and introduces the opportunity for sample contamination. In those
diffusion coatings, the nickel needed to form an intermetallic B2
phase comes from the substrate. Outward diffusion of elements from
the substrate into the coating layer is therefore required.
However, deleterious substrate alloy elements such as W, Ta, Ti or
S can also then diffuse into the nickel aluminide layer. The high
vapor pressure differences of elements Ni, Al and Pt make it
difficult to create alloy coatings by evaporation of AlNiPt alloy
targets.
SPS TBC Processing Concepts
[0075] There exists a need in the art for a cost-effective method
to apply high quality TBC top coatings and bond coats to surfaces
with improved control of the coating morphology and composition. To
achieve this a novel directed vapor deposition (EB-DVD) approach
exploits entrainment of the vapor in a controllable inert (e.g.
helium or argon) carrier gas flow. In this approach, the
combination of a continuously operating 60 kV/10 kW axial e-beam
gun (modified to function in a low vacuum environment) and an inert
carrier gas jet is used. Vaporized material is entrained in the
carrier gas jet created using a converging/diverging nozzle
configuration and deposited onto the substrate or target at high
rate and with a high materials utilization efficiency. By using a
high scan frequency electron beam gun, several different materials
can be co-evaporated at independently controllable rates. This
enables the creation of an alloy vapor plume of controllable
composition. By using low density, high velocity gas jets, a
homogeneous composition vapor flux can be achieved. The composition
is easily manipulated by independently controlling the evaporation
rate of each source.
[0076] Some of the applications of the assignee as previously
listed have addressed this need to some extent by providing, among
other things, a recipe of how to manipulate the process conditions
in a EB-DVD systems to deposit high quality, highly efficient TBC
top coats as well as how to deposit high quality bond coats of a
given composition. Advanced processing approaches that enable
improved cost-effectiveness and improved properties are still,
however, required to take full advantage of these coating systems.
Described below is a novel single processing sequence (SPS)
approach for the deposition of thermal barrier coatings with
multiple bond and top coats and compositionally and morphologically
controlled interfaces between each layer.
[0077] An aspect of various embodiments of the present invention
will, among other things, enable a significant cost reduction for
the application of the TBC system and the deposition of novel TBC
processing approaches that enable currently unobtainable TBC
structures. The concepts are obtained because of a unique ability
to deposit dense bond coats with controllable surface features and
columnar top coats in a single deposition step (i.e. without
removing the component from the vacuum system). This enables unique
opportunities to tailor the bond coat/top coat interface by
controlling the deposition parameters. It also enables a novel
multilayer coating concept in which one (or more) secondary bond
coats and top coats are used to protect a primary TBC from damage.
Such concepts prevent unexpected damage in the primary TBC and
prevent unexpected failures that now limit prime reliant use. In
addition, this coating concept also enables the in-situ
implementation of pulsed, high energy electron beam treating
techniques that can result in the remelting and rapid
solidification of very thin layers of a coating surface (about 10
.mu.m to about 100 .mu.m, while other exemplary coating surfaces
may be, but not limited thereto, about 0.5 .mu.m to about 5,000
.mu.m). This results in refined grain structures that have been
demonstrated to be effective in promoting the formation a slow,
growing adherent alumina oxide scale and thus, is a potential tool
for ensuring the proper bond coat/top coat interface is created
during processing. This process would become an integral part of a
new TBC manufacture process without adding significant cost.
DVD Processing for Single Step Coating of Engine Components with
TBCs's
[0078] The DVD approach has been demonstrated to be capable of
producing thick, high quality TBC's top coats at high rate and
using reduced equipment costs. A schematic illustration of the
coating approach for turbine blades and vanes is given in FIGS. 8
and 9. A unique gas jet nozzle/crucible has been designed that
allows the vapor flux from multiple (co-evaporated) crucibles to be
focused in one direction and intermixed in a second to create a
vapor distribution that is uniformly elongated (12'' long or
greater, for example, but not limited thereto) along one axis but
still focused along a second. This can be used to deposit bond
coats and top coats onto very large parts with a high deposition
efficiency and very high deposition rates or onto multiple
components simultaneously.
[0079] FIG. 8(A) schematically illustrates of an elevation view of
a crucible/gas jet nozzle configuration used for the high rate
deposition of bond coat and top coat materials onto IGT parts or
the like; while FIG. 8(B) illustrates the corresponding plan view.
An aspect of the present invention, as shown in FIG. 8(A), is
directed at coating one or more substrates (e.g., blades) at one
time. It is often desirable to coat several blades at one time
within the deposition chamber. This embodiment allows for using one
or more sources 125, carrier gas streams 105, and nozzles 130 to
focus vapor onto individual components. While FIG. 8(A) is a
schematic illustration that shows one crucible/jet arrangement, it
should be appreciated that multiple crucible/jet arrangement may be
utilized as well. In a preferred embodiment, the nozzles include
nozzle openings 131 and nozzle gaps 132 where carrier gas streams
flow there from. The nozzle gaps 132 may be angular or non-angular
(or combination thereof) having a variety of opening 131 of a
variety of shapes, e.g., ring-shape. Each source is heated with an
electron beam (using, for example, either single beam scanning gun
or multiple e-beam guns) and the vapor is directed onto a turbine
blade 20 at high efficiency and rate. The vapor flux distribution
115 may be adjusted to being equal to, less than or greater that
the size of the blade or target 20. In an approach, multiple blades
or targets may be simultaneously coated at high rate (or desired
rate) to result in a very high (or desired) process throughput.
Steering of the vapor is accomplished using non-angular or angular
symmetric nozzles. In one approach, an additional electron beam
(not shown) may employed for each source 125. A method also is to
use the high frequency scanning capability of the electron beam to
maintain evaporation from many sources simultaneously.
[0080] As discussed above, it is also recognized that nozzle shapes
other than ring-shaped may be useful. As shown in FIG. 8(B), in an
aspect of the present invention, alternative embodiments may
utilize variety of ring gap shapes, segments or contours. For
instance, FIG. 8(B) illustrates generally rectangular nozzle/ring
opening 131 of a nozzle 130 about the evaporant source(s) 125 to
provide a desired vapor flux distribution. This may be of interest
and adjusted to according to the surface coating criteria. For
example, but not limited thereto, for non-circular shaped
substrates such as turbine blades, in which a higher deposition
efficiency can be realized if the shape of the vapor flux
distribution is tailored to the size and shape of the part to be
coated. This approach allows for one to not only apply a coating to
the desired area of the part, but also to prevent coating on an
area that requires subsequent part manipulation tooling or
locations on the part which do not require a turbine blade.
[0081] Turning to FIG. 9, FIG. 9 schematically illustrates a
production coating concept that will enable the single-step
deposition of a complete TBC system as well as advanced multilayer
TBC structures. The coater uses an advanced electron beam gun that
can be deflected at very large angles (+/-30.degree.). While FIG. 9
illustrates a single electron beam gun, it should be appreciated
that a plurality of electron beam guns (energetic beam source) may
be utilized. This allows a single e-beam gun 105 to be used to
evaporate from multiple sources 125, which need not be located in
the same chamber. This enables a dual chamber design 104A, 104B
(more chambers are also possible as desired or required). This
allows the single step deposition of both the bond coat and the top
coat, as well as the deposition of multiple bond and top coats onto
a single component 20 as required to create prime reliant
multi-layered structures. In the later case, the component 20 is
simply moved back and forth from the bond coat chamber (e.g., 104A)
to the top coat chamber (e.g., 104B) to produce as many bond
coat/top coat combinations as required. The flexible e-gun
capabilities will also allow e-beam treatments of the bond coat
surface prior to top coat deposition, which may occur in an
intermediate chamber 104C. This set-up would enable a turbine
component to be entered into the coater without any coating and
leave the coater with both the bond coat and the top coat (i.e. the
entire TBC system) applied on the component. This approach
maximizes the use of the equipment required for coating (capital
costs for bond coat deposition are mostly shared by the top coat
equipment), significantly decreases the time required for coating,
reduces the man-power requirements, reduces the footprint of the
equipment and thus results in a much lower deposition cost for the
TBC system. The cost of depositing a top coat and a bond coat using
DVD is anticipated to be less than the cost of depositing just a
top coat using a conventional EB-PVD approach.
[0082] Additionally, for some bond coat compositions significantly
thinner bond coats can be applied using this approach because no
out-of-the-chamber part handling is required in-between the top
coat and bond coat deposition. This part handling creates the risk
of damaging very thin bond coats (about 5 to about 10 microns)
leading to the use of thicker coatings. The high cost of some bond
coat elements (such as platinum) makes the use of the thinnest
coating possible the most cost effective approach.
[0083] Additionally, it is also possible to alter the composition
and microstructure of each layer that is deposited by using
multiple vapor sources in both the bond coat and top coat chamber.
This would enable the bond coat and top coat layer composition to
be tailored to its position in the coating. For example, near the
substrate bond coats that getter sulphur may and have a high CTE
may be employed. Near the coating surface, more refractory bond
coats with lower CTE's and enhanced high temperature properties
could be used. For the top coat, materials with low thermal
conductivity and tailored pore morphologies may be used nearer the
substrate while more erosion and sintering resistant materials with
higher temperature stability being used closer to the coating
surface. The coating composition can be altered by using multiple
source evaporation and varying the gun power to each source during
each subsequent layer. The pore volume fraction and morphology can
be altered by altering the chamber pressure, the gas jet pressure
ratio and/or the substrate temperature or altering the parameters
of a plasma activation system.
Single-Step TBC Deposition:
[0084] Turning to FIG. 10(A), in some cases, a single chamber
approach (should note that this is a possibility) for single step
TBC deposition is also possible. For example, a platinum aluminide
bondcoat and a 7YSZ top coat could be deposited onto a superalloy
substrate in a single deposition step by using a water-cooled
crucible having Pt, Ni, Al and YSZ source rods. The substrate will
be heated to temperatures (.about.1050.degree. C., while other
exemplary temperatures may be, but not limited thereto, about
500.degree. C. to about 1250.degree. C. to,) where dense PtNiAl
coatings have been demonstrated. The bond coat will be created by
co-evaporating the Pt, Ni and Al metals for the bond coat. The use
of high frequency e-beam scanning (e.g., 100 kHz, but not limited
thereto) allows multiple source rods to be simultaneously
evaporated. Evaporation rates will be set to yield the desired
composition by altering the electron beam power to each source and
using process conditions that promote vapor phase mixing of the
materials. Turning to FIG. 10(B), after deposition of the bond coat
the e-beam scanning pattern will be altered to evaporate only the
7YSZ source rod and the top coat will be created. The entire
process may occur without cooling the part or breaking the chamber
vacuum. As is the case with current TBCs, the TGO will form in
service. FIG. 10 schematically illustrate a multi-source
evaporation crucible/nozzle configuration to be used during this
task or the like. In FIG. 10(A) the bond coat deposition portion of
the processing sequence is shown where Ni, Al and Pt will be
evaporated. In FIG. 10(A) the e-beam scanning pattern has been
altered to evaporate the YSZ source. As illustrated in FIG. 10,
there is provided an alternative embodiment, wherein vapor phase
mixing can be achieved by aligning two (or potentially more)
sources 125A, 125B, 125C, 125D (evaporant materials A, B, C
&/or D, etc.) in line with a carrier gas flow 105 and using
electron beam scanning 103 to uniformly heat both (or plurality of)
sources (optionally, may be achieved with one evaporant source).
The use of the carrier gas jet in this embodiment not only scatters
the vapor flux toward the substrate 20, leading to a potentially
high MUE (and high deposition rates), but also randomizes the vapor
trajectory facilitating vapor phase mixing of the two (or plurality
of) fluxes 115. A high materials utilization efficiency (MUE) would
allow for the use of small diameter metal source materials, which
could be spaced closely together to further improve the
compositional uniformity of the coating, while still achieving a
high rate of deposition. The composition of the deposited layer
could be systematically controlled by altering the electron beam
scan pattern to change the surface temperature (and thus the
evaporation rate) of each source material.
[0085] In one embodiment, the electron beam gun in the directed
vapor deposition system has been equipped with a high speed e-beam
scanning system (up to about 100 kHz, for example, but not limited
thereto) with a small beam spot size (<about 0.5 mm, but not
limited thereto) to allow multiple crucibles to be placed in close
proximity to one another for precise heating and vapor mixing. The
carrier gas surrounds the vapor sources and allows the vapor from
the neighboring melt pools to interdiffuse. The composition of the
deposited layer can then be controlled by altering the electron
beam scan pattern to change the temperature (and thus the
evaporation rate) of each source material. In effect this is a
splitting of the beam into two or more beams (if two or more
sources) with precisely controllable power densities. As a result,
the present invention DVD system enables the evaporation of several
materials simultaneously and thus, precise composition control in
the coating can be achieved. Using a 100 kHz scan rate, a single
e-beam can be scanned across multiple, closely-spaced vapor sources
for precise alloy or multilayer deposition. The water-cooled copper
crucible and independent source feed motors make possible
independent material feed and evaporation. The setup is shown
schematically for Ni, Y, Al, Pt, and/or He, evaporation. A single
e-beam can be scanned across multiple, closely-spaced vapor sources
for precise alloy or multilayer deposition. The water-cooled copper
crucible and independent source feed motors make possible
independent material feed and evaporation
[0086] The following references are hereby incorporated by
reference herein in their entirety: [0087] 1. D. D. Hass, Ph.D.
Dissertation, University of Virginia (2000). [0088] 2. D. D. Hass,
P. A. Parrish and H. N. G. Wadley, J. Vac. Sci. Technol. A 16(6)
(1998) p. 3396. [0089] 3. D. D. Hass, A. J. Slifka, H. N. G.
Wadley, Acta. Mater., 49 (2001) 973.
[0090] The invention may be embodied in other specific forms
without departing from the spirit or essential characteristics
thereof. The foregoing embodiments are therefore to be considered
in all respects illustrative rather than limiting of the invention
described herein. Scope of the invention is thus indicated by the
appended claims rather than by the foregoing description, and all
changes, which come within the meaning and range of equivalency of
the claims, are therefore intended to be embraced herein.
[0091] Still other embodiments will become readily apparent to
those skilled in this art from reading the above-recited detailed
description and drawings of certain exemplary embodiments. It
should be understood that numerous variations, modifications, and
additional embodiments are possible, and accordingly, all such
variations, modifications, and embodiments are to be regarded as
being within the spirit and scope of this application. For example,
regardless of the content of any portion (e.g., title, field,
background, summary, abstract, drawing figure, etc.) of this
application, unless clearly specified to the contrary, there is no
requirement for the inclusion in any claim herein or of any
application claiming priority hereto of any particular described or
illustrated activity or element, any particular sequence of such
activities, or any particular interrelationship of such elements.
Moreover, any activity can be repeated, any activity can be
performed by multiple entities, and/or any element can be
duplicated. Further, any activity or element can be excluded, the
sequence of activities can vary, and/or the interrelationship of
elements can vary. Unless clearly specified to the contrary, there
is no requirement for any particular described or illustrated
activity or element, any particular sequence or such activities,
any particular size, speed, material, dimension or frequency, or
any particularly interrelationship of such elements. Accordingly,
the descriptions and drawings are to be regarded as illustrative in
nature, and not as restrictive. Moreover, when any number or range
is described herein, unless clearly stated otherwise, that number
or range is approximate. When any range is described herein, unless
clearly stated otherwise, that range includes all values therein
and all sub ranges therein. Any information in any material (e.g.,
a United States/foreign patent, United States/foreign patent
application, book, article, etc.) that has been incorporated by
reference herein, is only incorporated by reference to the extent
that no conflict exists between such information and the other
statements and drawings set forth herein. In the event of such
conflict, including a conflict that would render invalid any claim
herein or seeking priority hereto, then any such conflicting
information in such incorporated by reference material is
specifically not incorporated by reference herein.
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